In the first and second Tests of the current five-game series against India, former England captain Michael Vaughan voiced his dissatisfaction with Joe Root’s batting style. While Root did not perform well in any of the games, England’s hitters have been finding novel ways to score runs.
Although Root has been trying to play in England’s typical extremely aggressive manner, he hasn’t been able to hold the crease for very long. Notably, 29 is his highest score in the current series. Many people harshly criticized him after Ravichandran Ashwin removed him during a nasty push across the line during England’s second innings of the Vizag Test match.
However, Michael Vaughan said that Joe Root ought to play in his own way rather than using the Bazball method.
Meanwhile, it appears as though the batsmen have a single style of play. They have moved from ball one into fifth gear. Some of them play better as a result, so I don’t mind at all. However, Joe Root needs to disregard it. Playing like Joe Root, he has ten thousand test runs. He doesn’t need to be a basketball player. Joe needs to be reminded to be himself by someone on the management team who should put an arm around him. Vaughan penned a commentary for The Telegraph that said, “I think it’s as simple as the fact that he is too wrapped up in Bazball, the whole ethos of excitement and entertainment.”
According to Michael Vaughan, Root’s performance suggests that he is not able to counter spin, which could allow England to forfeit their lead in the remaining parts of the series. Instead of stepping out and striking over the top, he believed that the 33-year-old should choose length and utilize the depths of his crease.
This is especially crucial in the fight against spin. Root is the greatest spin player to have come out of England, along with Graham Gooch. The way he batted in the second innings, it was obvious that this was not Root’s style of play and that England would not win in India by giving wickets away.
He doesn’t dance down the pitch, which is the most annoying thing. Simply put, he doesn’t play the shot. You can tell he plays from his crease because the one and only time he has been stumped in his whole Test career came at Edgbaston last summer when he did it to Nathan Lyon. He employs the crease’s depth. Immediately returning to his stumps, he is the best at picking up length. He moves forward immediately once it is full. He plays exceptionally well at sweep shots, just like he did during the previous tour to Sri Lanka and India on spinning wickets,” the 49-year-old continued.
India
